


half time blow

by sternchencas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Football | Soccer, M/M, Soccer AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-05 19:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1829140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sternchencas/pseuds/sternchencas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The "Red Angels" football team gets a new player, Dean Winchester, and most of the players decide to give him a hard time. Team captain Castiel Novak is one of them, but over time he realizes it could be a better idea to spend their time with more pleasant activities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dean Goalchester

**Author's Note:**

> I live next to a stadium with public viewing and it's hard to concentrate on writing when you hear a whole game. This is how I deal with it ...
> 
> I'm going to add characters and tags as I move along because I'm not exactly sure where this is going.

"So, what do you think?"

Castiel empties his bottle of water and tries to get his damp hair out of his face before looking at Ash. "About what?"

"You know, the new guy. Goalchester."

"I'm fairly certain his name is Winchester."

Ash laughs and taps Castiel on the shoulder. "I know, but ..."

He doesn't finish the sentence, probably remembering who he's talking to. Castiel Novak is a fucking gem on the field, their best midfielder and team captain for a reason. He has a strategy for almost every situation and sometimes he's ordering them around like he's fighting a war and not only playing a game. On the other hand, he's just unbelievably weird.

Once he left a party after they won a game because he wanted to finish a certain book. Maybe the Bible, considering the way he talks sometimes and that he's very fond of their team name. Red Angels. Who the hell came up with that?

"Sorry if I'm interrupting your little tea party, boys. Would you mind joining the training again?"

Tame little soldier Novak nods and throws his empty bottle into the grass before he joins their team-mates on the field. "Sure coach."

Ash, however, is not so quick with following instructions. "How about a deal, Crowley? I go back to training when your latest purchase cares to join us."

It's always risky to gamble with Coach Crowley and today he obviously has a bad day. "Was quite an expensive purchase, that Winchester. Maybe I have to let someone else go instead."

He raises his eyebrows challengingly and Ash caves in. "No need to haul out the big guns, Coach."

As soon as he gets in motion a ball is slowly rolling his way, and he dribbles it lazily back to the shooter and the other players surrounding him, including Castiel, their joker Gabriel and the self-proclaimed lady's man Balthazar. "Hey Novak, you didn't answer my question. What do you think about that Winchester guy?"

"I don't know him, Ash. It's not advisable to form an opinion based on facts delivered by third parties."

He should have known he wouldn't get a straight answer and Balthazar laughs while trying to get the ball from Gabriel. "Come on, Cassie. He didn't ask you to marry the guy. Do you think he's a good player?"

Castiel has no time to answer because Gabriel suddenly stops in mid-stride, the ball rolling away from him. "I guess we're going to find out."

All heads turn and take in the unfamiliar sight. Ace striker Dean Winchester wrapped in their colors with a small set of black wings on his chest. He stands at the entrance to their locker room and holds up his hand to shield his eyes from the sun when Crowley approaches him. As soon as they're occupied with each other Balthazar nudges Castiel with his elbow. "At least, he's pretty."

Again Gabriel is quicker with an answer than their composed captain. "I wish I had captain privileges. Imagine ordering that sweet piece of eye candy around." Balthazar laughs, but Ash rolls his eyes and finally fetches the ball. "Don't want to burst your bubble, but we can't win with pretty alone. Right, Novak?"

Again he gets no answer. Castiel just stands there like a statue, scrutinising Dean Winchester and apparently Crowley left because their newcomer is alone at the outline, starring right back at their team captain. They seem to have a silent conversation, but suddenly Castiel turns his head and frowns at the other players instead. "Enough time wasted. Move!"

They scatter a little halfheartedly when Castiel turns back to Dean and waves him nearer with a brief gesture. "You too, Winchester."

Surprisingly enough Dean moves immediately, but as soon as he gets in earshot of Castiel his face breaks into a broad smile. "No need to be so formal, sweetheart. You can call me Dean."

Gabriel can't hold in a giggle while Ash takes a sharp breath and Balthazar's low voice travels barely between them. "Well, I say we play those two against each other. You're with me?"

Ash just sighs, but Gabriel grins maliciously, his eyes glistening with mischief. "Hells yeah!"


	2. Overtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been over a year, but I haven't forgotten ;)

It's just one of those times where Dean's big mouth got him in even greater trouble. Castiel Novak is obviously no fan of pet names, so Dean made his worst first impression ever. Not that it matters very much. In the hours after, there's no time to make any impressions at all, because he can't speak a word with any of the other players. Castiel grinds them like they're here to build a pyramid and none of the other players seem very keen to talk to Dean anyway. He expected as much.

He had awful press lately, because of stupid rumors and his rivalry with another player. And then he fucked up his last game with his former club. The publicity crap made him so angry and frustrated that he played the worst game of his life and ended up with an injury so bad he had to go into rehab for months. That almost killed his deal with the 'Red Angels' and gave the infamous Coach Crowley the chance to screw him over. Now he's on probation. He's probably the best striker in their league and has to prove himself to some fancy guy in a suit with his sophisticated English accent. Like that moron would even know the difference between him and a three-legged dog.

But that's not even the worst part. From what Dean’s gathered so far, it's not even about Crowley. Suit guy seems to be your man for deals and money, but when it comes to the team he has to overcome another hurdle. Castiel Novak. While Crowley talks a good game at press conferences and acts more like a manager, Castiel is the one actually to make things happen. Balthazar and Gabriel even go so far as to call him Commander instead of Captain. There's probably some inside joke here, but Dean didn't dare to ask because Castiel's fondness for that name is in the same range as 'sweetheart' and his only response is to make Balthazar and Gabriel run a few more rounds.

Not that the other guys were better of. Castiel hustles them up and down the field - with or without a ball - forces them in all kinds of positions to stretch and loosen their muscles and gets them to do standard drills over and over again. It's like any other training Dean participated in, but somehow it's still different. Because of Castiel. His deep voice travels over the field although he never actually shouts and every order is short and precise. Dean has no doubt that he knows what he's doing, and the team members do as he says without hesitation. Still it doesn't seem like a dictatorship.

He's been in a club where it was almost mutiny on the bounty because the coach was a narcissistic idiot who thought the players were his subordinates and he could use them as he pleased. Castiel is different. Dean can't even put his finger on it, but Castiel seems to be a good example of what people like to call a 'born leader'.

Before becoming part of the team, Dean has already been looking forward to seeing what makes them tick. He wondered about the reason for their success, and now he found it. Castiel. He has seen him play a thousand times, but Castiel never stood out. Aside from being team captain, he's never been in the flashlight and rarely gives interviews. The media doesn't make a big fuzz about him as well. That leaves it to Dean to find out who Castiel Novak is.

As chance would have it, he gets an excellent opportunity right away. Castiel ends the training and Dean is about to leave the field with the other players when there's a hand on his shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Locker room?" Dean turns around and regrets his annoyed voice when he faces a blue frown. "I mean, the training is over, right?"

"For the others. You were late."

Castiel walks away to put up some dummies in front of one of the goals, leaving Dean with teasing looks from their team members, especially Gabriel. Dean ignores them and follows Castiel to the other side of the field. It's not his fault that Crowley kept him in his office for an hour previous to the training, but nobody cares about those details.

Making his way to Castiel, Dean collects a few of the balls the others left behind around the field. If he's honest, he'd love to just leave. His injury is still acting up, and his leg won't like the extra hour of training. Unreasonable as always, he doesn't let Castiel know about it though. He can't afford not to play. He's been out of the game long enough as it is.

When Castiel is done with the dummies, he waves for Dean to join him. Dean complies with his best fake smile. "So, what do you want me to do?"

"Get past me."

At first, the task is easy enough. Dean makes his way past Castiel and the dummies with ease, and the dummy in the goal isn't any trouble at all. He wishes scoring would work like that during the real game. It does get harder, though. With each try, Dean has more and more problems to score. It stands to reason that he's having trouble because of his injury, but that's not it. Castiel only lured him in with a few easy tries. Although he doesn't usually play defense, Castiel makes it harder and harder for Dean to get even past him. One time, he intercepts Dean and kicks the ball with so much force that it ends up in the goal on the other side.

After that, Castiel's frown grows deeper and deeper. He probably starts to wonder why Crowley paid so much money only to get a somewhat useless striker, who can't even outplay one center forward. Dean would love to convince him of the contrary, but he's not back to his former stamina yet and gets more and more out of breath. Besides, Castiel is freaking hot, and Dean's imagination goes to places it has no point being. His concentration is almost gone by now, and the only thing he can do is to take in the presence of the other man.

Unlike common belief, it's usually not a problem for him to be around other men like this, despite being bi. They could play naked Twister in the showers for all he cares, and it wouldn't matter to him at all. With Castiel it's different, and Dean has no idea why.

It might just be the fact that he hasn't been going out that much. While at the top of his career, nobody cared if he's been in clubs and had some fun. As long as he didn't mess up a game, he was golden. After his terrible mistake, everything became different. Whenever he got remotely close to somebody, the media was all over him. He retreated more and more and after a while, he even stayed away from his brother as much as possible to avoid any bad press. Hooking up has been pretty much out of the question since then. Until now.

Dean finds himself staring less at the ball and more at Castiel. He's leaner than Dean, more it in for the long run, but his muscles promise strength. After sweating through hours of training, his shirt clings to his body, and Dean enjoys every line of his frame. At least, until Castiel blocks his path. Surprised by the sudden movement, Dean reacts too late. He tries to slow down, but still crashes into Castiel with force. Unlike Dean, Castiel is prepared for that possibility and attempts to lean into Dean. Usually a good idea, the move is devastating for Dean now. He tumbles back, the ball simply flying away from him, and his instincts make him grab the nearest thing. Castiel. They go down in a heap of arms and legs, Dean on his back and Castiel on top of him.

For a moment there's a profound silence around the field, only broken by their frantic breathing. Dean can feel it where their chests touch. Castiel's weight on him makes it even harder, but he doesn't mind. He's not even able to apologize. During the whole training he's been watching Castiel, but up close he's even more attractive.

Instead of his typical frown, his eyes are wide with surprise. Dean gets lost in the blue of them until Castiel catches himself. "What happened?"

He props himself up and sits back on his heels while Dean focuses on the grass instead. It's a good question. From all the possible outcomes of a tackle, this is by far the worst. "Guess I just slipped."

Castiel opens his mouth, probably to object, but then he just nods. "I'd say it's enough for today."

He gets to his feet and does the worst thing Dean can imagine. He offers him his hand. There's no way Dean can refuse the help without looking like a total douche. He takes it and lets Castiel help him up. It takes his last bit of strength to get to his feet, but as soon as he's up, he rubs his hands together like he's eager to get going again. "So, do we clean up?"

"I'll take care of it. You better get some sleep, and maybe you can be on time tomorrow."

"I was today. But Crowley-" Dean meant to finally defend himself, but doesn't finish the sentence when he watches Castiel's face. He's not exactly smiling, but obviously understands what's going on.

"I know."

Dean's not sure what he means by the soft spoken words. Does he know it's been Crowley's fault? Does he understand that Dean is angry because he went through hours of training being teased by his teammates for something he didn't do?

"You knew and kept me here longer than anybody else because-?"

The sentence lingers between them for a moment, but Castiel's face still doesn't betray his feelings. "Goodnight, Dean."

He walks away to clean up their equipment and leaves Dean behind with a lot of questions and a feeling somewhere between hot anger and burning curiosity.


End file.
